What suits you best

The piece for this week from the Blurt Foundation talks about how things are easing up here in the UK with changes afoot.

Some of us will be all ‘thank goodness for that’ – at the end of our tethers, chomping at the bit to be out and about as freely as possible.

Others will have been self-isolating for the entire time and so this turn of events may feel abrupt, too much, too soon.

There’ll be swathes of us who feel a bit more reset; learning that we were doing a lot of people-pleasing beforehand, and we have a clearer picture of who and what we missed and who and what we didn’t.

There are emotional and exhaustion hangovers aplenty from Lockdowns 1, 2, and 3.

And for all the in-between-ness of those very broad scenarios, the in-between-ness is cramped with people who don’t quite feel this or don’t quite feel that. We’re all different and our experiences have been so wide-ranging.

• We won’t all be seeing this in the same way.
• We won’t all want to be out and about.
• We won’t all agree.

However we feel is how we feel and it’s okay to do this your way. Whether you’re literally at the door raring to go, or you’re needing to tiptoe forwards, or hold fire for just a spell longer – they’re all natural and normal responses to what we’ve collectively been through.

The judgement and criticism needs to be put on hold. We just don’t know what other people have been through and are going through.

Emotions are going to be sky high and with that is a need for tolerance, understanding and compassion to be even higher.

• Be quick to forgive when people cancel on you last minute or when people move faster than you feel you can.
• Be quick to check-in on those who are needing more time, in a really unpressured way.
• Let others disagree with you (respectfully) and let yourself disagree (respectfully) with them.
• Don’t scathe those who mask or those who don’t.
• Don’t be dismissive of the fears or confidence in those who are doing differently to you.
• Do change your mind if you need to.
• Do be honest and open about how it’s going for you.
• Do let people do it their way.
• Do it your way.

Kim Fry
UKSA Welfare Officer